


Say When

by MidnightMilkyWay



Category: Naruto
Genre: American Sign Language, Deaf Character, M/M, Mentions and Depictions of Sexual Abuse, Rating May Change, mute character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-30
Updated: 2015-09-25
Packaged: 2018-04-02 01:57:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4041307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightMilkyWay/pseuds/MidnightMilkyWay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One thing was for certain, you heard his voice before anyone else did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

Naruto remembered the look of excitement everyone wore when they watched the new guy enter. After all not everyday did a new student arrive. Nothing compared to the look they gave him when they realized something off about him.

He didn't answer any of their questions and that raised suspicion. Maybe he was shy? His expression hinted otherwise. Black orbs swam calmly and unaffected by the stares, whispers, and frilly giggles.

That was until he brought out his notebook

  


_Hello, my name is Sasuke Uchiha. I will use this notebook to communicate. It is nice to meet you_ _all_  


  


He held the notebook in front of his chest, expression showing anything but genuine glee at his written sentence.

  


No one said a word as realization dawned on them.

  


That was two weeks ago.

  


Sasuke avoided eye contact and conversations the moment they were presented to him. Days went by and nothing changed. The only eye contact he held were the ones to glare at them. Conversations with him were short and brief. Sasuke only used his notebook to answer questions a simple nod or shake of head could not answer. Any attempt to further a conversation were cut off by Sasuke telling them off via notebook. Invitations to hang out were quickly turned down. Despite Sasuke's coldness and disrespect, everyone was determine to befriend him.

The first time Naruto talked to him was during final period when they both had study hall. Talking to him would be uninterrupted by the creepy fan girls Sasuke managed to collect in the two weeks he'd been In Konoha.

Naruto stood and walked over to the table Sasuke was reading and quickly sat down next to him before any objections were made.  The Raven haired merely stared at him, seemingly questioning why someone would be sitting with him. Better yet how dare someone be sitting with him.

"Hi. My name is Naruto. I'm not coming off as creepy am I? That would totally ruin the whole thing here. I know your name is Sasuke so you don't need an intro. Wanna be friends?" Naruto said it all with a smile plastered on his face. Of course Naruto did not expect a verbal answer but a written one would suffice. Sasuke looked slightly agitated and continued to stare at him. Sasuke pointed at his ear and shook his head.

Is he deaf too?  


A fleeting moment of embarrassment made Naruto chuckle nervously.  


Sasuke unzipped his backpack and fumbled inside it until he found his item of choice. A black notebook. He slid the notebook to him with a glint in his eye, probably thinking how much of an idiot Naruto was. He got that a lot. Naruto wrote with a smile on his face as he gave Sasuke back the notebook. Sasuke read without a distinguishable expression. He studied Naruto for a moment before beginning to write his own response. He presented Naruto a quick written answer.

_Get lost. Don't bother me._  


That was not the response Naruto had been hoping for. He hoped for something more enthusiastic or positive.

_Wow. Rude. I did come off as strong so sorry. But I'm trying to be nice here._

_Did i ask you too?_ ****

It surprised Naruto that he was able to write fast and eligible, as though he were having a verbal conversation.

I just figured you might be lonely is all. If you really want me to leave then I will.

  


And so he did.

  


He figured it would happen. All those stories about people attempting to friend Sasuke finished with the same ending. Naruto grabbed his stuff and walked out the library he'd follow Sasuke into. No need to stay in that hellhole any longer.

  


A pen hitting his head stopped him mid step.

  


"Naruto! Damn it. I have been looking for you!" Kiba's loud voice cut through the silence of the empty hall. The dog loving brown haired boy ran to Naruto and stood defiantly in front of him. Kiba's arms were crossed over his chest and staring at him like he'd done something wrong.

"Looking for me? I told you exactly where I would be?" Naruto stated.

"Oh geez telling me you were going to talk to that new kid is so exact." Kiba sarcastically said. "Anyway the plan failed. Well more like it didn't work so I got caught."

"Caught! Kiba you idiot! You didn't rat me out didya? I swear if you did I'm killing you." Naruto panicked and quickly grabbed Kiba's shoulders and shook them. "I can't get another detention. I can't get suspended!"

"No of course not, I got your back. You see what happened was I aimed wrong. Let's just say Ms. Anko ended up with a surprised paint shower and now I have detention."

"You're such an Idiot."

"Yeah well at least I'm not the one holding a black notebook you emo."

"Black notebook? I don't own a black notebook. You know I need color."

"The one in your hand begs to differ. Anyway I have to go clean up Ms. Junko's room now. Just thought I should be the one to tell you. Probably will be grounded by my mom so no hanging out today. See ya." Kiba waved his goodbye and Naruto was left alone again.

"Black notebook?" Naruto looked down at the one in his hand and sure enough there it was. He must have accidentally taken Sasuke's notebook. He figured he should return it soon as possible but his curiosity got the best of him.

Naruto opened the notebook and began flipping through the sheets. Most pages were filled with scratched out phone numbers. If Naruto looked close enough he could tell the outline of the numbers. Maybe he ought to write them down and prank call them, no doubt they were from Sasuke's desperate fangirls. As Naruto kept flipping through he found only boring, plain conversations. They consisted of short and to the point questions and answer.

_~~Wanna hang out?          No.~~ _

_~~Do you have a phone number?  Yes.   Can I have it? No~~ _

_~~Do you have a girlfriend? No.~~ _  
_~~Do you want one? No~~._

Wow. This guy was a total bummer. He did not want any type of social comfort.

It wasn't until the eerie creak of a door opening that Naruto realized he'd been standing in the empty hallway for most of the period. He turned and saw Sasuke walking down the hall and called him out for he could retrieve his notebook.

Oh wait...

Naruto ran to catch up with Sasuke because, man did that boy walk fast. Naruto reached out his hand to tap Sasuke's shoulder. What happened next was way beyond what the two young men were incapable of changing. Fate entwined the young idiots at this moment.

The most asinine moment ever.

Naruto must have forgotten to tie his shoe because next thing he knew, he found himself yanking on soft black hair and a loud thud was heard beside him. Dark, onyx eyes were glaring at him.

"Haha! Oooh! So sorry I-" A stinging pain in his stomach caught him off sentence. He hunched over coughing.

Sasuke gathered his stuff without any remorse and made his way out the hall. Bastard! Did he not realize it was all an accident. How dare he hit him when he was trying to apologize. One thing that Naruto never let live down was someone making a fool out of him.

Naruto collected himself from the ground and charged headlong at Sasuke, successfully bringing him down. Naruto threw an equally fistful punch at him, causing Sasuke to grunt and take action of his own. Naruto can't remember who threw what hit after that. Soon enough they were a tangle of limbs and hits.

Suddenly a strong hand pulled Naruto and Sasuke away from each other. Leaving Naruto punching and kicking the air. A soft chuckle emerged from the hand's owner.

"Well well. If I came any later you two would have killed each other." A man with slightly spiked white hair and a half mask covering his lower face spoke.

The man held Sasuke away with his other hand, keeping both boys from attacking one another. Sasuke looked slightly annoyed but not surprised at the stranger's intrusion and started doing some weird hand motions that looked like some ninja seals Naruto once watched in a show.

"Ahh great question Sasuke. You see, I was having a lovely chat with Principal Tsunade about your scheduling and we happened to see some students fighting." The man said while simultaneously doing hand motions like Sasuke done. Both Naruto and Sasuke took on a look of fear. Principal Tsunade involved could not end well.

The masked man lead them away to their sure demise. Along the way, he rambled on about the importance of teamwork and how it had to be strengthen. Seriously, he must have been punishing them because no one can be this excited about preaching teamwork.

 


	2. Incident

As it turned out, the boys were sentenced to one week of after school detention. Principal Tsunade didn't go soft for Sasuke as he had thrown the first hit. The first two days of detention consisted of avoidance from Sasuke in a empty classroom. On the third day Tsunade found a better use for them by making them help around the school. Whether it be cleaning, packing or filing papers, they were expected to do a diligent job. Naruto did not take well with any kind of cleaning and his side of the job was mainly him making more of a mess.

Sasuke, on the other hand, zoomed through all his work like a ninja. The routine kept up until Friday when Sasuke and Naruto are asked to help the biology teacher with dissection subjects. Mr. Orochimaru never sat well with Naruto since he deemed him idiotic and in return Naruto saw him as a creep.

"Ah so this is the new the Uchiha Sasuke I've heard about". Mr. Orochimaru said in that tone that gave Naruto the chills. Orochimaru extended his hand to greet Sasuke, who politely took the hand and shook it.

"Sooo what do you need help with? Trying to raise the dead or something?" Naruto drawled on as he picked up a pamphlet from Orochimaru's desk and absently flipped through the pages.

"I need you to clean the room and set up the equipment we'll need for dissection tomorrow." He pointed at Naruto with his boney finger. Orochimaru then pointed at Sasuke. "But you will help me retrieve some supplies that are in the basement. You seem trustable enough with fragile things."

"Wow. Offended. He's only been here for three weeks and you trust him more?" Naruto feigned offense and accidentally knocked over a vial that hopefully held nonlethal liquid. "I'll fix that."

Orochimaru sighed and turned towards the door.

"Come along Sasuke." His eyes raked over Sasuke before he walked out the class. Sasuke adjusted his hearing aid and he gave an exasperated eye roll before following suit. Naruto chuckled under his breath. Poor him having to be alone with that creepy guy. Surprisingly, Sasuke was not as much of a bastard that he pinned him as. Their fight that had been a case of miscommunication and Naruto did not blame Sasuke for it. The last few days, him and Sasuke seem to be on good term. There was no commuting between them however, much to his dismay.

Naruto figured he ought to start cleaning or at least mimic cleaning. He grabbed the broom and swept the vial glass to a far corner of the room where no one will see it again. He inspected all he could of the unfortunate dissection specimen, rolling the disembodied limbs and flesh through their plastic bags.  He counted earthworms, cow eyes, pigs and -oh no frogs. Frogs were one of Naruto's favorite animals and seeing them lying dead inside bags saddened him. He checked to see what class would get the frogs and of course it would be his class.  

"Nope"

Naruto committed a switcheroo and gave his class pigs instead because who didn't love bacon? Just then his phone vibrated, signaling a message. He took his phone out and saw who texted him.

Jiraiya.

Naruto dreaded opening the text since part of him was already use to this. The other half held onto the hope that he could be wrong. He opened the message and scoffed as he put his phone away. Of course he wouldn't be able to make it, 'busy' with more 'research'.  

Jiraiya, his godfather and legal guardian since he was 4 years old, hardly ever went to their house anymore. Once Naruto hit the age of 12, Jiraiya believed Naruto could well enough take care of himself, he set off to continue his infamous book series. His fans were ecstatic for his return. Naruto was happy for him, somewhat. Sure their time together was limited and he always came second, but whatever. Not like it was the first time. Sometimes he wondered if his parents would've been different, if they hadn't died in that car accident.

Naruto wandered around the class and tidied up to make it look like he cleaned and to busy his mind from wandering too deep. He sprawled himself over Orochimaru's desk, careful to avoid that hideous small statue of a snake Orochimaru always faced towards the class. The statue was as creepy as its owner. He played around on his phone and patiently waited for Sasuke and Orochimaru to come back so he can get scolded for resting on the desk and he and Sasuke can finally leave.

He waited for quite a while.

Naruto groaned and wondered why they were taking long.  He checked the time and instantly jolted from his rest. Naruto slid off the desk and walked out the classroom, a bad feeling hit him right in the gut. At that moment something told him he just had to get to the basement and get Sasuke. Their detention began everyday at 3:15 and ended at 4:15 sharp.  

It was already 4:28

At first Naruto thought they finished and left home, but Sasuke's bag and sweater were still in the biology room. He doubt Sasuke would stay overtime. He was always the first to leave.

Naruto ran down the staircase until he reached the door of the basement and pushed it opened. A burst of cold air shot out, leaving goosebumps on his skin when he walked inside. Two thing Naruto registered immediately. One, the lights were off. Two, he stepped on something wet.

He quickly lunged for the light switch.

What he saw, looked like a struggle. Boxes were thrown over the place, their contents either leaking or shattered across the floor. Heavy smells filled Naruto's nose and he figured some food been inside those boxes. Other than that, it was empty. No people in it, specifically Sasuke. The basement wasn't large, only two rooms made up the entire underground storage. He currently stood in the accessible side of it. The other side can only be accessed by janitors.

Just where the hell could they be?

"Sasuke! Where are you?" He yelled out, worry and fear picking at him. He considered going to the office and calling for help when a loud bang came knocking from the other door at the end of the basement.

Sasuke was frantically trying to open the door by furiously twisting the handle. Naruto quickly ran over to the door and tried to open it but it wouldn't budge. Naruto surveyed the room until he spotted a fire extinguisher, he ran to grab it and repeatedly bought it down again and again on the handle until it broke. Sasuke swung the door open and dashed out the room. Naruto walked into the room and ignored Sasuke's pulling of his sweater. Naruto lightly shook him off.

"I'm just going to check."  
Whatever happened in there, scared Sasuke enough that he just waved Naruto off and immediately left the basement.

Naruto walked further into the unfamiliar area, saw no Orochimaru, then got confused. A ripped up photo laid abandoned on the ground and he knelt to pick it up. It showed a person smiling but the top half of their face was ripped, the identity of the person left unknown. From what he could tell, it looked like a boy. He could vaguely make out a loose ponytail as well. The other half of the photo was nowhere to be found and the door leading to the parking lot showed signs of being opened recently. Naruto figured Orochimaru left the scene. Deciding that he dug up more questions than answers, he left the room and headed out to find Sasuke.

Naruto found Sasuke pacing back and forth on the staircase, wide eyed and body shivering hard. He stopped and stood there for a moment, breathing heavily while looking terribly sick before running over to the nearest trashcan and threw up.

Naruto patted his back as he continued to heave out his stomach. Naruto felt as though he were intruding on a very personal moment in Sasuke's life and opted to apologize, but there were things that needed answering. "Sasuke, what happened? Where's Orochimaru? More importantly are you ok?". It was too soon for Naruto to bombard him with questions but if he wanted to help he had to know. "I'm calling the office." He turned to head up when a hand quickly latched on to his wrist and pulled him back. Sasuke gave him a wait motion and took his phone.

Visibly shaken and troubled, he ended up almost dropping his phone twice since he couldn't stop shaking. The dimmed lighting of the staircase must have made it harder for him to see his keyboard as well. He shoved the phone to Naruto's face, walked past him and sat down on the stairs besides them. He tried evening out his breathing as Naruto read his message.

_He attacked me and tried doing things to me._   
_He ended up fleeing once he heard you calling out._   
_I'm fine._

"You have to tell the school" Naruto said as he sat down besides him, far enough that he gave him space and close enough that he could still speak to him. He handed the phone back. "You don't have to talk about it- I mean write about it... you know what I mean. But you have to report this. He's still out there." Sasuke stiffened at the last part, clenched his fist and sighed, he nodded and turned his face away from Naruto and that was that.

"I'll go get your stuff." Naruto offered and raced up to the classroom. He entered the room with disgust, this is where a pedophile worked everyday with minors. Everyone would joke about it, but now that it happened, the joke was no longer funny. It shouldn't have been a joke to begin with. As Naruto passed by the desk, he eyed the snake statue and flicked it off the desk. It fell and shattered.

"Oops." He nonchalantly said before leaving the room.

Once back down the staircase, he lightly tossed Sasuke's black backpack and blue sweater at him. He noticed that Sasuke appeared calmed down, no more shivering or hyperventilating. He zipped up the orange hoodie he wore and leaned on the wall next to Sasuke.

Naruto could have called it a day and go home but could he leave someone who just went through a traumatic experience alone? Sasuke was strong enough to take care of himself so what the hell happened back there? He shouldn't be wondering about it and tried his best to occupy his mind with something else.

"Is someone coming to pick you up?" He asked once the silence became too much for him.

 _Depends. I'm waiting for a reply from my guardian. I'll have to take the bus otherwise_.

Naruto noticed how he typed guardian instead of parents. 'Just like me' he thought. "I have a guardian too. He's also my godfather. We hardly see each other anymore though. He's a really busy man." A slight lie he told, it was still better than saying his guardian was a porno author who spent his living constantly finding a new lay for the night. Every night.

_Can we switch?_

"Depends. Is your guardian a nice person?."

_He thrives off of charity work. He is the definition of nice._

Naruto chuckled and tried to imagine what kind of man Sasuke's guardian was and how he allowed Sasuke to become such a hermit if he were such a cheerful person. Sasuke's phone vibrated and he checked his message.

_I have to walk._

"Did you tell him what happened?"

Sasuke shook his head.

_It's a conversation I need to have face to face._

He began to look distraught and scared but immediately bought himself out of it. He narrowed his eyes at Naruto. "Don't you walk home everyday?"

"Yup."

_Why did you stay then?_

"Is that a question that needs an answer? I wanted to be with you". Naruto lightly blushes. He mentally thanks the school for installing dim lights in the staircase, making it difficult for him to be seen clearly.

Sasuke doesn't type anything to respond, instead he collected his stuff and headed to the exit door. He stopped and stood by the door, then peered over at Naruto who was still sitting on the stairs. He tapped at the door while looking at Naruto with a questioning look and pushed the door open.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going." Naruto said then snagged his bag and followed Sasuke to the sidewalk where he leisurely strides beside him. They walked in eerie dead air for a while. The sky had already darkened a bit although it wasn't late. The streets were empty aside from Sasuke and Naruto. "Do you live far away? I live pretty close to the school actually."

Sasuke nodded and pointed at the bus stop down the block they currently walked. "Other side of town huh. My best friend lives there too. Not many people from that section come to school over here. Isn't there a closer school over there?".

He nodded, but didn't take out his phone for a reply.

"You're Japanese right? Is that why you came to Konoha? This city holds the largest population of Japanese people in the United States. My friend Specifically came to Konoha High for that reason. Her parents wanted her to be more into her roots."

Sasuke looked a little bit sad as he nodded.

"I'm Japanese too but I don't speak the language well. My godfather can speak it fluently though. So did my parents." This caught Sasuke's attention and he glanced at Naruto.

"Would have been nice to have learned something from them." He wishfully said. Naruto followed up with a big grin. "Welp. I guess this is goodbye for now. We should exchange phone numbers so that we can continue our great conversation" They stopped right next to the bus stop pole and Sasuke took out his phone.

_I don't know what idea you got off of tonight but can we not associate outside of this?_

"Am I that bad of a person?"

_Its not that. It would be better if we aren't friends._

"Why is that?"

_Trust me. I'm nothing but trouble._

"I love trouble."

Sasuke shook his head and watched the bus rear the corner. He turned and looked once more at Naruto before typing a final message.

_Thanks for everything you did for me today. I appreciate it, I really do. But from now on, leave me alone._

And with that, he boarded the bus. Leaving Naruto alone.


	3. Discovery

"Hey! earth to Naruto." A ball hitting the side of Naruto's head woke him of his stupor. 6th period, PE, Naruto decided to sit out of indoor softball and rest on the bleacher's undersides. He searched for the source of the thrower and eyes softened when he found who. Sakura, Naruto's best friend since childhood, eased her way under the bleacher with him. Naruto half smiled at her. He wasn't feeling up to it today. Neither the day before or the day before that. It would be an overstatement to say he was depressed, though he was less cheerful the past days. All because of some rude, unappreciative boy he became inexplicably attached to.

Naruto had been called down to the police station over the weekend to give his word about the Orochimaru incident. Sasuke had been there, however no words were exchanged between them and Sasuke left without a goodbye. Naruto could not come up with a justifiable reason to why Sasuke rejected his friendship and be so adamant on keeping it like that. Naruto was a pretty great guy if he had to say so himself.

Monday morning came and word that Orochimaru was missing spread throughout the school. An announcement was made that explained the situation. Students came forward and confessed their own horrors with Orochimaru. Sasuke wasn't the first victim and he certainly wasn't planned to be the last either. It sickened Naruto to know someone could do something like that.

Sakura sat crisscrossed besides Naruto and sympathetically patted his shoulder. "You look terrible." The pinkette said and chuckled weakly. Naruto shrugged.

"Are you having Sasuke troubles?" She looked at him from the corner of her eyes. "I have not seen you bug him lately. Finally given up on him?"

Mockingly flabbergasted, he scoffed. "Me, give up? Never. I've been thinking is all." Nothing but the truth was said. Naruto Uzumaki never went back on his words. That was his way of life. A paper cut back in 6th grade made his famous phrase. A weak motivation sprung up a meaningful sentence that stayed with him throughout the years.

"Did he say something?" She questioned, her eyes widened when she realized her mistake. "Whoops."

"Do you think I'm a bad person?" Naruto doubtedly asked. He hugged his legs and rested his chin on his knees.

She was taken aback by the question. "No. You're a great person, the best I know." Sakura reassured him, her hands patted his back in a motherly manner.

"I don't understand why he doesn't like me."

"Have you asked him?"

"Not really. He's just so mysterious. 'I'm nothing but trouble' he says, 'leave me alone' he warns!" Naruto flopped his head dejectedly onto Sakura's lap.

Keeping true to Sasuke's request, Naruto had not talked to him since Friday. But damn was Sasuke great at avoiding Naruto as though he were the plague. Their classes together were limited, only having Literature and Morality class. Even then, Sasuke managed to somehow keep Naruto at bay.

Naruto doesn't see him in the bus stop after school either. Not that he was purposely looking for him... he also dropped off Sakura.

"Naruto, I don't understand why you want to be his friend so badly." Sakura starts "The friends you have already, are they not enough? I know you want to be nice, but Sasuke's made his decision clear."

Naruto shot up from her lap immediately. "Of course you guys are enough! It's just... there's something about him that draws me to him."

"Naruto. It's called hormones. You're a bisexual teenager."

"No, no, not just in that way." He shrieks and lightly pushes her shoulder. "I feel like we were made for eachother." He admits.

"You sap." She shakes her head in a friendly chastising manner.

They briefly turn their attention to the softball game they were missing out on. From the cracks through the bleacher rows, they were able to see their friends enjoying themselves. Except Lee, who fiercely did push ups at the far end of the gym, but that was nothing unusual. Naruto and Sakura stayed in that comfortable silence until Naruto asked the question plaguing his mind.

"Do you hate Sasuke?" He blurted. The moment Naruto showed interest in Sasuke, Sakura had cheered him on. She was the one who suggested Naruto to talk to Sasuke. Lately it seemed she regretted her decision.

Sakura shifted uncomfortably gym shoes squeaking against the ground. "I don't hate him. To be honest I don't trust him." She admitted.

"You don't know him." Naruto said.

"And you do? Listen, I overheard my father talking with my mother the other day. It was about Sasuke." She began warily, knowing what she said could possibly change Naruto's views on Sasuke. Sakura's father was chief of police and considering the incident that happened with Sasuke, it didn't surprise Naruto that her father had his hands on the case. "He did a background check on Sasuke and what he found was a bit disturbing."

"Disturbing, how?"

"Everytime Sasuke moved to a new town or school some kind of accident happened... terrible accidents."

"Accidents happen all the time Sakura. Last week I tripped on my own shoelaces and ended up dropping my textbook over the railing of the stairs. Kankuro was knocked out cold."

Sakura shook her head. "No, not those kind of accidents. Serious accidents. People ended up seriously hurt or dead. My dad told my mom about this kid they found with scissors through his neck. The only person who was there with the kid... was Sasuke."

Naruto didn't say anything.

"I didn't believe it at first. But it's documented on papers so it has to be true. The scissor accident, wasn't the only one. It even got my mother thinking what happened on Friday-"

 

"What happened that day wasn't his fault." Naruto defended.

"I know that. But the other ones, those can't be explained." She reasoned.

Expression hard, he turned his head to face Sakura. "I don't see why you're telling this."

"You know very well what I'm trying to imply." She tensefully said.

"How could you even say something like that?" Naruto was angered at this point.

"Because what if you get hurt?! All because of him!" She accusingly hissed, trying her best to keep herself from causing a scene. She sighed deeply and composed herself.

Naruto exasperatedly threw his hands up. "You know what. I'm done with this conversation." He crouched towards the bleacher's opening and glimpsed at Sakura. She stayed seated under the seeping light. Despite the dull darkness, he saw dejection adorning her feature. He exited the scene.

Naruto retreated to the men's locker room to change. Dismissal neared so he settled on getting a head start changing. However, Sakura's words echoed in his mind. As much as he didn't want to acknowledge the possibility Sasuke might be dangerous, he couldn't forget he heard what was told.

.

Sakura avoided him after school. She stared him in the eyes, stomped past him and exited school without him. She made sure to be dramatic about it.

Naruto found himself unable to be angry at her. He understood her side of the story and the truth behind it. If a best friend warned the other best friend about a possible threat and they dismissed it as nothing, then he could see why she was still angry.

He wasn't ready to forgive her yet, though. His side also held truth.

Right when he was departing, Naruto remembered his wrestling club held a meeting today. Meaning he had to stay another hour or so.

Strolling through the corridor, Naruto allowed himself to ponder more about Sasuke's past. Sakura said accidents occurred and Sasuke would be present. The notion that maybe Sasuke happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time came to mind. Hearing about Sasuke's background made Naruto feel guilty, he had no right to know about something that didn't concern him. Though he'd be lying if he said the information didn't excite him. Learning about it was the closest thing to knowing more about Sasuke. Admitting there could be something wrong about Sasuke wasn't something he wanted to do. Sasuke simply may have rotten luck, nothing could be done about that. But what if those casualties weren't accidents but purposeful... it scared him to think Sasuke might be a dangerous person.

A sudden oomph and flying sheets blinding his vision snapped his attention to his walk. Confused, he looked around and saw no one. The sound of shuffling sheets turned his sight to the floor where a girl with violet hair kneeled,frantically trying to collect her fallen sheets.

"I'm so sorry!" He cried out once the state of the situation caught up to him. Great, for being too absorbed in thought, he ran into someone. He knelt down besides her and helped gathered flyers.

In a low, stuttering voice, the girl spoke. "I-Its f-f-ine." Lavender eyes stared at him. Extremely familiar lavender eyes, the more she stared at him. The girl brushed her long, violet hair back with her fingers and dusted off her navy blue pants. She stood up, holding the flyers tight to her chest "What are the flyers for?" Naruto asked.

Handing Naruto a flyer without a word, she set off to hang some on the poster board behind him. His eyes closed in on the big, black, bolded letters popping from the sheet.

Join ASL Club!

 

"What's ASL?" He found himself asking.

"A-American Sign L-Language." She replied from behind him. Naruto whipped around to see her fiddle with the indexes of her fingers nervously, her face tinted red and less flyers stacked on her arms.

He rummaged his mind to connect a definition to the word "Oh! Like talking with your hands? So cool! Can you do sign language?" He inquired giddily.

She held her closed fist up and bent her wrist, bought it back up and down again, resembling like she did a kitty paw at him.  
"I take that as a yes?" He said confused.  
She nodded. "That m-means yes in S-Sign Lan-g-guage."

"Awesome. I now know a new word, well if you call that a word."  
If Sign Language was used by deaf and mute people, and he knew someone who fit the above... "So this club... do you have a member named Sasuke?"

"U-Uchiha?"

"Bingo."

She nodded. "Y-yeah he comes e-everyday. Is he your f-friend?"

"Sure." It was becoming apparent to Naruto that this girl stuttered a lot. Did he make her feel nervous? "Don't worry I'm not a bad person or anything. I'm Naruto." He offered his hand to shake.

"H-Hinata." She turned her scarlet face away from him as she accepted the hand and shook it. "If you don't mind. Can I see how this club is? It sounds really cool." Naruto kindly begged, hoping she'd say yes.

She smiled brightly at him and bobbed her head quickly. A very excited expression displayed her face, eyes shining with glee. "Of c-course! W-We need mo-more members." She reddened more when she realized her ecstaticness showed. "Follow m-me."

She advanced ahead of him.

So much for that Wrestling meeting, Naruto mused in his mind. He got himself a free ticket to see Sasuke again. Like hell he was going to pass it up. He'll have to text someone for the deets later. He needed to straighten out his doubts about Sasuke. He pranced beside Hinata and flashed her a big smile whenever she'd glance over. Hinata blushed madly and turned away each time.

They entered a desolate side of the building Naruto didn't remember existed. Silence echoed from all the hallways and the lighting was notably dimmed. The air was chilly and the majority of classrooms were barren, showing no signs that classes were held there. Everything gave off the atmosphere of a ghost town. Naruto found himself not liking this part of the building.

Only one room stood out from the rest. The wide, opened door allowed a ray of light to filter from it. A chorus of laughter came from within and filled Naruto with a sense of happiness. The room was a sharp contrast to the rest of the building. He didn't recall there ever being a ASL club in use on this side of the school. Then again, the only club he ever had an interest in was wrestling. Hinata smiled at him before walking through the door. beckoning him also come in.  
Naruto followed her inside. Bright lights blinded his eyes. When he adjusted, Naruto scanned the class. A total of eight heads were counted. Especially the duckbutt of hair located near the window. The owner of said hair merely stared outside, not acknowledging the newcomer.

"Hello Hinata. I see you brought along a friend." A man with spiked white hair and a bottom half mask spoke. He spinned his chair around and rolled to them. Naruto instantly recognized him as the one who broke up his fight with Sasuke.

Hinata flushed and waved her arms at the man. "H-He's Sa-s-suke"s friend!" She squealed. Kakashi's visible eye widened and flickered to Naruto. "One weeks does a lot, doesn't it Sasuke?" He spoke loud enough to catch the attention of said person.

On cue, Sasuke tore his head from the window. Dark eyes landed on Naruto, shock set on his face at the unexpected visitor but Sasuke made no move to walk out the door. It was a good sign. Naruto threw a peace sign at him. Sasuke rolled his eyes in return. Straightening his back in the chair, Sasuke turned to Hinata and started doing Sign Language at her.

Guiltily, Hinata also began to move her hands in response. Back and forth the two kept the flow of hand motions going.

Naruto stood to the side of the apparent argument, confused, left out, but intrigued by their quiet language.

The white haired man let a mirthful laugh out as he also watched the two communicate. Naruto figured he should ask for a translation. "Hey you." He catched the man's attention by tapping his shoulder. "What are they saying?"

The masked man peered up at Naruto. "The name's Kakashi and apparently you're a stalker and Hinata is very sorry." He didn't further interpret the exchange, instead he shrugged. "I didn't pin you as that type of guy." He deadpanned.

Naruto tilted his head, bewildered. "What does that even mean?" He ignored the remark.

"Well, Kakashi, how do I 'sign' up for this Sign Language." He nudged kakashi with his elbow and winked at him. "See what I just did there?"

"Hilarious." Kakashi kicked his feet up and placed them on his desk. "Why do you want to join ASL?" He probed.

Before Naruto could reply, a tap on his shoulder took his attention away. Sasuke stood next to him and for a moment Naruto thought he would usher him out the room. With a non threatening glare, Sasuke held his phone near his temple to show Naruto his text.

You win, happy?

Turning away, Sasuke headed back to his previous seating,leaving Naruto stupefied and victorious. He won a competition he wasn't aware of ever starting? Nice.

Hinata, visibly guilty and embarrassed, sat herself on a nearby desk. She nervously smiled at Naruto then looked at Kakashi. She rotated her fist on her chest counterclockwise.

Kakashi simultaneously signed and spoke out loud. "No need to apologize Hinata. Sasuke Isn't mad besides, you got us a new member." He thumbed up at Naruto who beamed happily at the news. "Really? Oh man, this is so cool. Watch, I'll be a pro at this whole ASL stuff. You won't regret this." Hinata giggled from behind her hand and Kakashi thoughtfully nodded. Naruto thanked them again before slipping away to slid into the seat across from Sasuke. They had quite a lot to discuss.

Sasuke slowly closed his book, pushing it away from him and his black orbs fixed on Naruto.

Naruto smiled happily at Sasuke and clapped his hands together. "If I had known coming to this club made you more approachable, I would have joined ages ago." Naruto jokingly said. He clamped his conjoined hands under his chin and leaned forward, tone becoming serious."But really... why are you not annoyed or mad? Since I started talking to you, you've done your best to avoid me. Why now?"

Sasuke tapped away at his phone, occasionally pausing to think. He skid his blue phone to Naruto.

You obviously weren't giving up. I decided to give you a chance. Especially since you invaded my safe haven. I was surprised to see you here. No one knows about the club here. If it weren't for Hinata you'd found this club weeks into the future. It was bound to happen. I was annoyed at first, but I got tired so congratulations. You won.

The revelation came as a relief to Naruto. A grin crept onto his lips when he saw his opening for a snide, flirty comment.

"Does that make you my trophy?"

My friendship is your trophy.

Naruto shrugged "I'll take what I can get. So, buddy, teach me some-" He jazzed hand "Sign Language."

Do I look like a teacher to you?

Naruto played with the idea of a teacher Sasuke. On one hand, Sasuke would be that hot teacher students get hot and bothered for. The other hand just held paperwork and detentions Sasuke no doubt would give out.

"Tutor?"

Fine. If you're joining the club, you might as well learn from the best.

"Please introduce me to this best. I would love to get started on my one on one lessons" He emphasised the 'one on one' snippet.

Either Sasuke didn't catch onto Naruto's innuendos or didn't want to indulge in them, he ignored the comment.

"I'm glad you're letting me have a chance to be your friend" Naruto smiled at Sasuke.

Hinata suddenly appeared, tapping on Sasuke's shoulder, she signed something to him and he nodded. She turned to Naruto and again with her stuttering voice, she nervously asked. "C-Can you help me cut these papers?"

"Of course. It's what club members do" He affirmed.

Bobbing her head in agreeance, Hinata grabbed the stack of colorful construction paper from the desk behind and discarded it at the center of the conjoined desk. She reached into her fanny pack and extracted two pairs of scissors.

In that moment, Naruto's blood went cold. Memories from Sakura's conversation rushed to him. Scissors... Sasuke...accident...

"Do you always carry scissors around. That's dangerous." He blurted, internally cringing at how prudish and he must have sound.

"Art en-thusiast." Hinata confessed.

Sasuke seized the scissors by its handle, lightly running his index finger along the dulled blade.

Safety scissors. You'll be ok.

Sasuke inched the scissors towards him. Naruto nervously shrugged, snatched the scissors and started cutting the shapes inside the paper.

While clipping the ridges off the manila paper, he felt Sasuke's stare on him. Paranoia crept up on him. Did Sasuke know he knew about him? Is he going to do something to him because of it? Why is he holding his scissors like that..

Sasuke abruptly stood up, still holding the scissors. Naruto tightly gripped his own pair by its open blade due to the scare he caused himself. Sasuke passed by and grabbed his phone charger from the outlet behind him. Downcasted eyes flickered to the small trail of blood running along his finger. Guilt immediately grasping his heart, Naruto wiped his self inflicted cut on his shirt and collected his bag, hastily jumping out of his seat.

"I completely forgot. I have something to do." He announced to the awaiting eyes staring at his sudden outburst. "Bye." Gripping his backpack strap tight, he dashed out the room.

Swivelling on his rotatable chair, Kakashi spun one slow final spin. Eye flickering between the swaying door and a dumbfounded Sasuke. "I do love a good drama." He unnecessarily voiced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I need to put it out there that I have not abandoned this story. Admittedly there was a period where I seriously considered dropping this story. I had planned to work on my writing and story during the summer and well... yeah instead I focused on drawing and seriously neglected this story. Even now I must admit this won't be a weekly updated story as school has become increasingly demanding of my time. However, what I can promise is that this story will have a ending and I hope that you can stay to see that through. During my inactivity I learned more about ASL and Its community because If I'm going to write about mute/deaf characters, I'm going to do it to the best of my ability. 
> 
> Comments, constructive criticism, questions, smiley faces, whatever you want to put in those rectangular word trappers are more than welcomed.


End file.
